It's Thursday, the 9th of July, oh, 9th of July, which happens to be the birthday of our middle-old

so happy birthday, so that excellent young man. And with that, welcome to the

PDB afternoon bulletin. I'm Mike Baker, your eyes and ears on the world stage. All right,

let's get briefed. First up, Ukraine opens a new front in its campaign against Russia's

wartime economy, striking dozens of oil tankers used to supply occupied Crimea

and evade Western sanctions. We'll have the details. Later in the show, the U.S. and Iran

continue trading strikes. We'll have the latest on the ongoing conflict. But first, today's

afternoon spotlight. Ukraine's campaign against Russia's oil industry is entering a new phase.

In recent months, Kiev has been using long-range drones to hammer Russian refineries,

fuel depots, and energy infrastructure, disrupting one of the Kremlin's most important sources

of revenue. Now, it's expanding that campaign beyond Russia's shores.

Instead of simply targeting the facilities that process oil, Ukrainian drones are now hunting

the ships that transport it, launching what appears to be the largest sustained assault

yet on Russia's so-called shadow fleet. According to Ukraine's unmanned systems forces,

drone operators have struck 35 Russian vessels over the past four days, including dozens of oil tankers operating

in the Sea of Azov and the Kerrst Strait. That's the narrow waterway that connects mainland Russia

to occupied Crimea. Ukrainian officials say the attacks have targeted 31 tankers, along with several

cargo ships and support vessels, many of which were allegedly transporting fuel and petroleum

products to Russian forces on the peninsula. The latest wave of attacks came overnight

into Thursday when Ukraine says it struck another 14 vessels, including 12 oil tankers.

Earlier this week, Ukrainian drones reportedly damaged another 21 ships over a three-day period.

Now, if those numbers hold up, the operation would represent the largest coordinated campaign

...